Lunar Shift
by S.Pumpkin
Summary: Thinking that going away from her 'family' will be good for her advisory skills, Luna (as a human) goes to England and takes on Dumbledore as her mentor. Say hello to the new friends and goodbye to the old. Throw in a bit of romance for added spice.
1. Au Revoir

Lunar Shift  
  
She likes him, he loves her. Ever wanted a fresh new story? This is it. Luna runs from the never-ending, unwanted love at home, when she runs into her mentor, Albus Dumbldore and continues her studies.  
  
Disclaimer ~ Unfortunately, I do not own Sailor Moon. I'll admit the manga/show is owned by the EXTREMELELY talented Takeuchi-sama.  
  
Notes from Juni Juni ~ It would be advised to know the story to the 'Snow Princess Kaguya' scenario. I read the manga, but I haven't seen the movie so I dunno if the names are same, but don't worry! This isn't _based_ on that. Only at the start. Oh, and you might want to know what Luna and Artemis look like in human form, it's just easier that way. Don't you find recognising characters is so much easier if you know what they look like? Oh well, enough from me, read on!  
  
Chapter 1 ~ Au Revoir ~ 19/5/03  
  
"Ah!" yelped Luna as she sat gently on a wall, massaging her ankle outside the hospital. She'd still have to get used to walking on two legs. She smiled as she watched Kakeru wake from his coma that she managed to bring him out of. She blushed as she thought about the last couple of weeks, and she was thankful that Usagi granted her wish. But for how long was she to stay human? It was nice that she could walk freely without fear of getting trampled or getting her moon insignia plastered over by pestering kids, but being closer to the ground gave the sense of being one with Earth.  
  
Hugging her knees and watching Kakeru who had new hope of living with Himeko, she suddenly wished that she was who Kakeru loved.she sighed and hovered her hands over her ankle. Moon symbols appeared on the back of her hand and healed her sprained ankle. Standing on the 10 ft high wall, she jumped and twirled gracefully in the air to land on her two feet, steadied by her hand on the tarmac. She supposed that her cat like demeanour would not disappear easily.  
  
Thinking that she would stand out of the crowd like a beacon, she changed from her yellow dress with black under lace into a yellow chinese styled dress covered up by a black trench coat to her knees with a glow of her moon insignia on her forehead. Her moon pendant continued to dangle to her stomach, mirroring the one on her forehead.  
  
Broken-hearted as she was, she wiped her slowly developing tears and ran to Artemis' house, where she had promised to go before she was bombarded by young hooligans. Reaching his humble abode, she wondered why she never came to his and Minako's place. Man, what a slave driver! She thought of Makoto's words and thumped her fists on the door, yelping from the sudden pain of her hand. She really had a long way to go before knowing her limits.  
  
Who opened the door was a mature woman wearing an apron and brown hair tied into a low ponytail. "May I help you?" she asked.  
  
"Hello, you're Minako's mother I presume?"  
  
"Yees."  
  
"Konnichiwa Aino-san, may I see your daughter?"  
  
"Sure, MINAKO!" she yelled into the house. "What's your name?"  
  
"-Luna. Luna Kaguya." Minako's mother smiled warmly to the seeming teen who looked like a child with her height and startling bright dark blue eyes to contrast with her black hair done into four odangos, leaving her hair to slither down her back to her hips. Thinking that she must be Usagi's friend or something with the same kind of hairstyle, she let Luna inside as Minako slid down the stair rails and landed with a thump next to her mother.  
  
"Luna! It's about time you came!" Minako cried and started to drag her up to her room with a mutter of, "Artemis has been waaay worried about you.you should've come earlier." Minako's mother tilted her head from the bottom of the stairs in confusion at the name. Wasn't that the name for Minako's cat?  
  
~~~  
  
Minako pressed her finger to her lips for silence and quietly entered her room, where a warm and comforting room awaited the newcomer. Warm yellow/orange walls and red curtains seemed to welcome her with open arms until she noticed the lonesome white cat sitting on the windowsill, staring out into the crescent moon of the night.  
  
Minako being the Goddess of love nudged Luna further into the room and closed the door behind her, knowing that that they had to be alone.  
  
"Artemis-" Luna muttered under her breathe, hoping that he didn't hear her but he did and turned his head to her, his heart catching in his throat. Luna gazed at him sympathetically and closed her eyes. Before his very eyes, she shrank and landed on four padded feet. Prancing up to the windowsill next to him, she removed the yellow bow from her neck and dropped it to the floor. To her dismay he looked back to the sky, his head never moving.  
  
"Artemis.I'm sorry.I haven't been such a good friend to you."  
  
"-Is that all I am to you?" Artemis murmured.  
  
"No." she replied, nudging her head against his neck. "You're my best friend." He smiled softly to the moon and nudged her with his own head in reply.  
  
"What about Diana?"  
  
"I'll miss her. But I'd rather have a surprise daughter.or son." He smiled weakly to her.  
  
"You don't like being human?"  
  
"It has its ups and downs."  
  
"But do you prefer it?" She smiled a little.  
  
"Probably. It's harder to become a victim."  
  
"Victim? Of what?"  
  
"Lots of things. Can't name them all." Artemis however looked downhearted as she jumped down to the floor and grew into a human again. "I should go." Seeing his look she scratched him behind the ears and carried him in her arms. "I have an idea."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you trust me?"  
  
"-Of course." Luna smiled to him and she rushed down the stairs to the front door where Minako's mother looked at her quizzically with Artemis in her hands. Luna noticed the strange scenario forming in her brain (AN: No, she's not telepathic.) and said quickly,  
  
"Isn't he so cute? I asked if I could take care of him for a while. Tell Minako that I need to hurry, I have a meeting." The mother raised her eyebrow at the girl.  
  
"Okay, sure." Luna beamed at her and Minako's mother couldn't help but smile back as she rushed out the door. What a sweet girl!  
  
~~~  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Artemis on Luna's shoulder.  
  
"To Usagi's. A while ago she promised me a favour. Any favour for the guidance I've provided her."  
  
"What's the favour?" Luna pouted cutely and replied,  
  
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Coming to Usagi's door, she ran and shrank into a cat and ran through the cat flap, Artemis in tow. Shingo glanced to the cats and yelled to his mother,  
  
"Mom! Luna's got a boyfriend!"  
  
"WHAT?!" yelled his father instead. "I DON'T WANT KITTENS!"  
  
~~~  
  
"Hurry!" hissed Luna to Artemis and she turned human again to lock the door. Usagi, startled, jumped from her bed and shoved her manga off the bed from view.  
  
"Luna?"  
  
"Usagi-chan! You know that favour you promised?" Usagi nodded. "Yeah, I want you to do what you did to me, to Artemis." Usagi raised her eyebrows in wonder of the strange request.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"No time! Your father thinks I going to have kittens!" Luna and Artemis blushed hard and Usagi giggled. What were they up to.?  
  
"Sure, hang on." She replied, fishing out her locket and opening it, temporarily blinding her. "You sure about this Artemis?" Just as startled as Usagi, he stared up to Luna in wonder. Why.?  
  
"How long does this wish last?" he asked.  
  
"Don't know, I guess forever." Usagi replied. Artemis smiled.  
  
"I'll take the offer, on one condition. That this wish will not be part of her favour. I want her favour to be what she wishes to do with herself. Not me." Usagi smiled.  
  
"I can't believe you two aren't together already. But yeah, your wish is my command!" she started as she heard the knocks from her father on her door.  
  
"Usagi open this door!"  
  
"Wait a sec dad!" shouted Usagi, as she raised the ginzuishou, the brilliance shining around the room, under the cracks of the doors. Her father peered quizzically at the door mumbling something incoherent. Soon the light faded from under the door and Tsukino-san stood up again from his crouching position and waited for his daughter to open her door. And it did.  
  
"Yes, dad?"  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"What's what going on, dad?" Her father scowled at her antics to charm him. "Oh come on! They're just cats, and they jumped out the window anyway." He peered over her head and saw nothing to worry over.  
  
"Then what about that light-"  
  
"See ya dad! I got loads of work to do for my exams!" and she started to push him out the doorway. He couldn't really complain.she was working.for once. She had her books at her desk anyway.  
  
~~~  
  
In Shiba Park, a couple wondered through the night over the bridge and under a willow tree. One, dressed in black, her long black wavy hair shimmered in the moonlight that seemed to reflect off her companion. He had shoulder length white healthy hair (AN: You know, not like old guys hair.and I KNOW he's supposed to have longer hair, I'd rather it be like this for my fic) and bright green eyes. He wore a white shirt that clung to him loosely and white trousers. What distinguished their difference to the norm, was their crescent mark on their forehead that glowed softly in the moonlight.  
  
"Do you like it?" the woman asked, hopping onto a low branch of the willow and swinging her slender legs, her hand fiddling with her.  
  
"Being human?" He smiled. "It's different. But I like it. You have a completely different view from up here." He turned to her as she twirled his straight white hair round her finger. He stared at her, wondered by her beauty and hoping that she liked him, but he knew different.  
  
"You know, you're pretty handsome like this." Luna said softly to him, taking her finger back but he caught her hand. Jumping slightly from the contact, Luna stared at him, his bright green eyes softening to see her watching him intently for what he was planning. And she had a hunch what he was going to do. It was times like these, that he seemed so serious, so passionate. Inching closer to her, she blushed and glanced to the river behind her, so free, so one with the Earth. Turning back, her lips brushed past Artemis'. She gasped inwardly, she could feel it. His pain, his heart hurting as though it held the entire core of earth, waiting to explode into volcanoes and earthquakes. He loved her. Deeply.  
  
"Just this once." she murmured as she took his well-defined face and kissed him softly. Once, twice, thrice. She found herself in a passionate embrace as her lips were on fire and she felt as though she wanted to carry on like this, forever. But that's when she realised she didn't love him like that. She could feel his hands through her hair and on her face, but he stopped, when he felt tears on his fingers. Pulling apart so that they were mere centimetres away from each other, they both wiped each other's tears. Their breaths racked with pain, one with sadness and one with shame. She had always wondered what a kiss tasted like.she giggled softly inwardly. It tasted faintly of fish. She grinned, and started to laugh, hysterically.  
  
Artemis was puzzled to say the least. He would treasure this night in his heart forever, but he didn't like being laughed at.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked. Granted, her laugh was wonderful, but she also had tears in her eyes. She leaned back from the branch, her laughter controlling every rational thought when suddenly, the twig holding her from falling, slipped from her coat and she fell from the branch, "Watch out!" tumbling into the ice cold river. Gasping in the river, Luna's crescent insignia glowed as she brought out her power. Artemis however launched into the water, and was just going to grab her wrist, when a bubble barrier prevented him from doing so. Knowing she was okay, he got out, soaked to the waist, and dried himself with his powers and waited for Luna to come out.  
  
At the riverbed, she deactivated her bubble and stomped to the dry Artemis. "Thanks for the help!" she cried, shaking her wet hair all over him.  
  
"-HEY! It's your fault!"  
  
"MY fault?!"  
  
"Yes! Yours! And just what were you laughing about?!" She smiled sheepishly and giggled to herself.  
  
"I'm sorry, just a thought I've had for the last couple of weeks. I have the answer now."  
  
"And that is--??"  
  
"Not to kiss someone before they brush their teeth! Had fish for supper huh?" Artemis went red.  
  
"-A-And yours? It's sugary!"  
  
"Sweet huh?"  
  
"Yes! No-! Y." Luna smiled warmly as she shivered and dried herself.  
  
"That was a one off. I owed you that. Hope you understand. I'd like to continue being best of friends though." She said slowly. Artemis quivered and hung his head.  
  
"I.I don't think I could." Luna watched as he grasped her inquiring hands. "Being by you, watching, listening, but not being part of your heart, will. is breaking it."  
  
"But you are, Artemis. You're my best friend, although I stubbornly refuse it sometimes."  
  
"Exactly! Refusal, I've had that too much." Luna gulped down her tears at this show of emotion and love to her. This man, this part of her race, was confessing his feelings for her even though he knew she wouldn't accept it. She slapped him.  
  
"Wha- What was that for?!" he exclaimed, rubbing his sore cheek.  
  
"Wake up!"  
  
"Wake up? From what?!"  
  
"There are plenty of women out there! I'm not the embodiment of perfection! I yell at you! I blame things on you! I don't love you! So wake up and find someone else to fill that emptiness in your heart!"  
  
Yep, that volcano was erupting. She could sense it. Why did she say she didn't love him? That was harsh. But, she told herself he needed it.  
  
"Artemis, try to understand. You're very sweet, you're kind of a blockhead sometimes, but you're very sweet. Remember that for me okay?" He nodded numbly. ".I think I might take a vacation somewhere." Artemis lifted his head in wonder. "Yep, I'll try and make it in this world. Of course I'll come back when Crystal Tokyo's established, but, sometimes I get the feeling that Usagi doesn't need me anymore. She's grown up, she can take care of herself." The last part was more of a whisper, more of a trance- like voice, and it haunted Artemis. He wanted her to leave, to ease his heart, but he didn't at the same time.  
  
"Go then." He said, brushing her stray strands of hair from her face. "I'll tell the others, they'll understand. If anything it'll make Usagi want to establish Crystal Tokyo faster." Luna smiled and nodded.  
  
"Thank you Art." She lunged at him, hugging him fiercely. "Remember, there's someone out there for you." She said into his ear and ran back, towards the bridge. "But cut back on the fish!" she yelled, her smile embedded in his head. Her laughter ringing in his ears.  
  
She ran, from her destiny, from her chains.  
  
And Artemis envied her.  
  
"Until we meet again." he whispered to the night air, picking a sakura blossom and taking off the petals. Holding the petals to his mouth, he whispered hard, "Luna." The petals flew away, dancing together until he could no longer see them.  
  
### You like? Hope so. Ya know, I have loads of ideas on my computer, never have the courage to put them up! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!? The longest one I have was LOST on the damn computer! I am SUCH a baka. I didn't even have back up files. Baka! *bangs head on desk* baka! *thump* baka! *thump* baka! *thump* BAKA! *crash*  
  
Whoops, bye bye desk-chan!  
  
Don't forget to review mes amies!  
  
Juni Juni 


	2. Mes Nouveaux Amies

Lunar Shift  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Sailor Moon. DAMMIT!  
  
Note: the characters may be OOC! Sorry! It just makes this funnier! (hmm...or not) Oh, and I KNOW this chapter is quite short, I just seems to stop after 7 pages! (P) And if I don't update regularly after this, I apologise like crazy. I live in England at a boarding school, highly dependant on the internet, which the school have bothered to do filtering, and GUESS WHAT?! This stupid place sometimes blocks me from getting to fanfiction.net! Grr...really annoying. So if they don't remove the block (which they have before) then I'll only update about twice a term (how lame is that?!) Enough ranting! On with the show!  
  
Chapter 2 ~ Mes Nouveaux Amies ~ 24/5/03  
  
Luna shivered as she found herself up a high tree wrapped up in a thick, magically induced blanket that kept her warm. Snuggling deeper into the nook of the tree branch, she yawned and noticed it was just sunrise. Taking a deep breath, she made the blanket disappear and she stood on the tree branch, noting the height. Shrinking into a cat, she jumped down and twisted round so that she landed on the dew-covered grass with four wet paws.  
  
As she stood up from her crouching position, she grew to her full height and changed into some black baggy trousers and a blue shirt that matched her dark blue eyes, hidden behind some chic sunglasses. Smiling at her simple outfit, she walked purposefully towards the airport, since her tree was merely just outside it.  
  
Once inside the deserted airport, she looked at the flight times and scanned over all the spots on the world. Where would she want to spend her long holiday? Her eyes rested upon Heathrow, London. Minako had told her about that place. It sounded quite nice, friendly people and atmosphere, shame about the weather. Smiling to herself, she bought the ticket.  
  
She boarded the plane and she flew away from her destiny, from her chains.  
  
~~~  
  
Yawning to herself as jet lag came into effect, Luna took the train into London, wowed by the majestic buildings. As she crossed the Millennium Bridge, her black wavy hair glittered with the raindrops of drizzle. She noticed that everyone seemed so used to this weather, that they all had their umbrellas. Once outside the Tate Modern, she saw a girl her age huddled and shivering under the bridge. Smiling in sympathy, she handed a £10 note to the child, who smiled brightly, but stopped abruptly as a pain in her chest erupted.  
  
"Are you alright?" Luna asked, taking the girl of barely 15 in her lap and letting her sleep, an invisible barrier of warmth over them. Hovering her hand over the girl's head and brushing her short and messy light brown hair from her eyes. Luna closed her eyes making the dirty skin and clothes turn invisible, giving way to see pulsating tumour. Luna hugged the girl gently in sympathy and her hands glowed as a moon symbol appeared on her hand. She watched as the tumour reduced in size, and disappeared.  
  
Once she was certain the tumour was gone, she ran her hands over the girl, ensuring no other tumour would grow again in another part of her body. The girl gasped and awoke, staring into Luna's kind eyes, who had long since removed her sunglasses.  
  
"Hello." Luna said softly.  
  
"'lo." The girl replied, her Prussian eyes wide in amazement at this act of comfort.  
  
"What's your name?" The girl groggily lifted herself up, expecting a pain in her chest as usual, but found none. Hoping the pain had disappeared, she replied quietly but croakily,  
  
"Who wants to know?"  
  
"I'm Luna Kaguya, I'm here to help." Darting away, the Julia hid behind a metal railing of the bridge.  
  
"W-What company are you from? I don't need your pity!"  
  
"I'm not part of a company, you're not pitiful either. I'm simply a tourist who's decided to take care of a scared girl who needs her help." Julia stared at her curiously and narrowed her eyes this time in suspicion.  
  
"No one's helped me before..."  
  
"Well," Luna started, getting up and dusting grit from her trousers. "I'm not your usual person." She smiled warmly to the girl, taking note of her blue eyes that seemed so much like her own. "Now. I'm sure you'd like to have a nice bath wouldn't you?" Julia nodded faintly, tugging at her rags of some beige trousers turned black and a thick woollen jumper. Luna laughed lightly. "...And I'm sure some new clothes wouldn't be out of the question would it?"  
  
Julia smiled weakly.  
  
"I'm Julia Holdsworth." Luna smiled and ruffled her messy hair. But then Julia ran into the older girl's arms, hugging her tightly around the waist, her head buried in over her shoulder. English girls sure were tall...but nonetheless Luna smiled softly to the mass of short but messy light brown hair.  
  
"I've just arrived here, this morning actually. I'm quite tired and I was on my way to find an apartment. Do you know where I could go?" Thinking a quite hard, Julia asked the most obvious question.  
  
"How's your budget?"  
  
Luna laughed softly. "Money is not a problem."  
  
"Cool! Are you rich? Oop, no don't answer that." Julia thought about the question and her mind diverted to where she had always stared at and wished she lived there. In fact, she stayed by the river under the Millennium Bridge just to stare at the water. "What about by the river?"  
  
Luna contemplated this thought, trying to think for any catch. "...I think that's a great idea." Luna replied, looping her arm through her new roommate's and pulling her into an alley beside the tall and large building of Tate Modern. "Now. You're going to have to trust me. I know it's hard, but if we don't want any strange glances from the police and such, I'm going to have to change your clothes."  
  
"I...Into what? How?"  
  
"I told you. I'm not your normal person. Hold still." Reluctantly, Julia stood in her place, glancing to the street for an escape if needed and wrapping her arms around her waist in slowly developing fear. "What kind of clothes would you like?"  
  
"A...Anything. Aren't we going to a shop?"  
  
"We don't need to. But you can if you'd like." Luna replied, pausing and waiting for Julia's answer. She frowned a little and shook her head. She had looked into Kensington High Street and Oxford Street occasionally, wishing that her parents would allow her debit card to work again. But no, she didn't want to go back to them. To their neglect, to their beatings, it was worse than scavenging off the streets. Besides, she had grown as an independent person, knowing that it was very important in the developing world. Besides, going in French Connection with tatty and dirty clothes like hers would be enough to embarrass her for the rest of her life.  
  
Luna smiled confidently and raised her nimble hands to the heavens. Julia stared, her face contorted into an image of shock and wonder as Luna brought her hands down to her comrade's face and, for the first time, Julia noticed the shining twinkle of a crescent moon on her new-found friend's forehead. The clouds parted a little, and streams of light cascaded to the vision of a lady, and was absorbed into that crescent moon of hers. Suddenly, strings of absorbed sunshine exploded from the tips of Luna's fingers and wrapped around Julia, who tried not to scream, without much success. Of all the things to trust her with, this was the last on her list. This older girl was friendly and everything, but she'd only known her during the last 15 minutes. Then, all the sudden, she's going to live with her (she thinks) in an apartment by the river. Lots of reasons not to trust her at her abrupt caring, so Julia was suspicious. Very, very, strange girl.  
  
Now she was looking down at herself wearing a shirt that had a shoulder wide neck line. It was a blue and white striped cotton shirt that was so soft and welcome on her skin, but the skirt to the knees in light brown suede was something she hadn't ever seen herself wearing. A scarf tied at the neck kept her warm, as well as a black coat that stretched just a little lower than her hips. To top it off, she felt a black beret on her combed hair. Overall she felt as though she had a nationality change to French.  
  
"Wha-? Luna? How?" Luna simply beamed at her and brought out an umbrella that came out of nowhere, holding it above both of them.  
  
"Shall we go?" Who was this girl? She was Luna Kaguya. Where did she come from? Japan. How on _earth_ did she get these powers? "To tell you the truth to your questions that I'm sure are knocking your brain into submission, I am going to have to have your absolute word that you'll keep it to yourself."  
  
"I...I promise." Luna shook her head in remorse. Julia raised her palm. "I swear that I'll never ever tell anyone what you're about to tell me." Luna smiled confidently and nodded.  
  
"Like I said, I am not your ordinary person. In fact, I am not your ordinary human. I come from the planet Mau, the cat planet. Ordinarily we use energy from any form of light, preferably moonlight. The energy is used much like plants use energy from the sun for their food. That's why we have five moons for the habitants of our planet to share." She paused for this to sink in. As they walked out of the alley, Julia simply stared ahead, her eyes occasionally widening as the truth of her new friend sank in. Why was she telling her all this? Sure, she was going to live with her, but if Julia were Luna, she wouldn't tell anybody. Then again, cats/people from the planet Mau must have different perceptions on life. Or, this woman's mind was under a mental disorder...but that didn't explain the change of clothes...  
  
Soon Luna's story telling finished, her mouth dry from the talking. She pointed to a pub by the side of the road, to which Julia scrutinised as a run down building with windows boarded up and a battered old sign reading, 'Leaky Cauldron'. Julia shivered. Was Luna serious? There are plenty of other...more respectable pubs in this neighbourhood.  
  
"Uhh...can't we go somewhere else?" Julia said uncertainly.  
  
"This will do! Come on I'm thirsty!" Luna cried and pulled the puzzled girl into the door, which was surprisingly open. Then, what she had never expected, appeared around her. A normal looking pub, with strange looking people looked at them and gave them the once over. So they weren't in cloaks like them, but what gave them the right to stare at them like they were aliens?!  
  
"What are you staring at?!" yelled Julia, sending the men and occasional woman to resume their chatter and drinking. Walking up to the counter, where a young man of around 18 greeted them. He nervously earned a scornful glance from his boss.  
  
"...erm, could you show me your wands?" Luna and Julia stared at him.  
  
"Okay, now I've realised. Luna, we're in a mental asylum. Come on." Julia remarked, pulling Luna away and for the door.  
  
"No, no. I want to know what this place is!" Luna exclaimed, working her way to the bar again and to the young man. "What do you mean, wand?" He laughed nervously.  
  
"...You might want to look behind you." He said, pointing behind them, where three middle-aged men crowded around the two girls, all holding some kind of sticks.  
  
"Nutters Luna!" cried Julia. "We're in the nuthouse!"  
  
"STUPENDOUS!" the men cried, sending red sparks from the sticks, but Luna at the last second, put forward her arm and her crescent moon insignia glowed brightly. A faintly glowing yellow bubble appeared around the two girls, absorbing the attacks. Once the men were done, they stared, as though they were hit by their own assaults. Luna put down her bubble and they both cried,  
  
"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"  
  
"We're terribly sorry-We just thought that--- that you were muggles. What, dressing like them, and not knowing about wands." stuttered one man, in a pinstriped suit and a rather large moustache.  
  
"Apology not-"  
  
"Apology accepted." Finished Luna before Julia could finish, shooting her a glare. "Now, what about a glass of milk?" asked Luna to the young man. The group deadpanned. "What? No milk?!" Luna shrieked, tugging at her hair. "Miiiilllk!!!" For all those who did not understand her necessity of milk, Julia did, and she patted her on the back.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll go somewhere else. Besides, can't you just make it appear?"  
  
"I...I can." Luna sniffled. "But with all the spells I've been doing, I'm going to be exhausted at the end of the day."  
  
"Don't worry, you can have a catnap later." Luna sniffled and nodded her head, her insignia glowing softly and a glass of milk appeared on the countertop. The men around them watched them intently, wondering how a mere child could work magic without having to use a wand. The last person able to do that was Serenity and her guard of the White Moon Kingdom 1000 years ago. Noticing their stares, Julia turned on her stool and yelled,  
  
"What?! You can make sparks appear from a stick yet you all stare at someone making milk?! Leave us alone!" Luna laid a hand on Julia's arm to calm her as she licked away her milk moustache. The men of the pub turned and left except for the barman.  
  
"Where do you come from?" he asked quietly in a Scottish accent, making Julia smile inwardly.  
  
"I'm from Japan. Julia here is from London" Luna replied, "I think."  
  
"Are you witches?" Luna spewed out her milk over the countertop, which the barman proceeded at wiping down. Wiping her face, rather embarrassed, she replied,  
  
"Is that what you call people here with magical abilities?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Well, I suppose I am then. Julia here isn't though."  
  
"You're a muggle?" They raised an eyebrow at him. "A person without magical abilities." Julia turned red.  
  
"I...I guess so. It would be cool to work magic though." Julia responded, sighing a little. Luna patted her on the back and said,  
  
"I can remedy that, if you want."  
  
"R...Really?"  
  
"Of course!" They smiled to each other and cried happily, "We'll be the witch sisters!"  
  
"Umm...hate to butt in, but you can give away magic to other people?" the barman asked, puzzled at the girls before him. They seemed friends, yet they hardly knew anything about the other. Who were these people? Attractive, beautiful even, girls in front of him.  
  
"Yes I can. It's easy."  
  
"What's your name?" he asked.  
  
"Luna Kaguya." Julia elbowed her friend, scornfully glaring at her as the barman tried to recall such a name. 'You don't just give away your name to people!' Julia seethed. 'I learnt that the hard way.' Her mind switched to when she was in a Metropolitan Police department for 'Missing Persons'. She smirked though as she managed to escape the police with swift kick in the gut. That guy deserved it... he was being so rude!  
  
The barman raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulder since he couldn't come up with anything by 'Luna Kaguya'. Ignoring her friend's protests, Luna asked the attractive man his name, which turned out to be Oliver Wood who was only trying to get some extra cash. Taking another sip of milk, Luna asked him on the current events.  
  
"To be honest I don't really know. I only know of the gossip from Hogwarts, from my old friends." They both tilted their heads to one side simultaneously in a quizzical expression.  
  
"Hogwarts?"  
  
"You don't even know about Hogwarts?" he asked curiously, to which they shook their heads. He sighed in confusion at the two. "It's a wizarding school, where most of witches and wizards go for training under the protection of the great wizard, Albus Dumbledore." As he said the name, Julia noticed he carried it with pride. 'Wonder why...' Julia thought.  
  
Click.  
  
However that's what it sounded like inside Luna's mind. Where had she heard that name? She racked her brain, thumping her head with her fists earning some strange looks from the viewers. "I've heard that name...where from?" she muttered. Opening the door to her memories, she searched through the endless books in the library of her mind, tossing most of them aside that were unhelpful. "Where!" She thumped her head on the bar in aggravation sending her hair to shimmer in the air behind her. "Have!" *thump*. "I!" *thump*. "Heard!" *thump*. "Him!" *thump*. "Before!" *crack*. A large crack appeared along the wooden countertop. Lifting her head suddenly to her new friends she hovered her hand above the crack absently and it returned to its pristine condition. "This is really annoying." She said, the only way she could have known about this man was if he was part of Silver Millennium, which aggravated her thoroughly. "How do I find him?"  
  
"Err...take the Hogwarts Express?" Oliver replied.  
  
"How do I take it?" Luna replied urgently, pressing her hands on the countertop.  
  
"...Take the train of platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross." He responded, getting increasingly nervous under the stare of the girl in front of him. Julia pulled Luna down into her seat with a whisper of,  
  
"You're making him nervous!" Luna nodded in understanding and held out her hand, which Oliver grasped and shook.  
  
"I hope we'll meet again, but I'm taking that train! When does it leave?"  
  
"11 tomorrow morning."  
  
"Okay, see you around! Come on Jules!" cried Luna, tugging at her arm as Julia glanced for help in Oliver's direction, to which he shrugged.  
  
"I'll you at the quidditch match!" he shouted to their backs.  
  
"Sure!"  
  
"What's quidditch?" they both yelled to him, as they waved and left the Leaky Cauldron. Nearly all the men got up and charged to Oliver, asked questions about the girls. "Are they veela?" one yelled. "Do you know them?" "Where are they going?" "Who are they?" "What are they called?"  
  
Oliver held his head in annoyance at the crowd. "SHUT UP!" he yelled. " You want answers?! I DON'T KNOW!"  
  
~~~  
  
Luna grinned at her new independence, at her new friend. They stood at King's Cross Station, wondering how to get to the platform. Julia glared condescendingly to the signs of 9 and 10, as if willing them to spring to life and walk away from each other, revealing the platform.  
  
"Let's face it. We were talking to a bunch of nutters." Julia finished, flailing her arms and letting them rest behind her head.  
  
"Do you think I'm a nutter?" Luna asked innocently.  
  
"N...No of course not!"  
  
"Then why do you think they are?" Earning only a gaping mouth, Luna continued, "The wizards are only trying to protect their world. There must be some kind of entrance way between these platforms." Luna said absently, patting the red brick walls between the platforms 9 and 10. "Help me, would you?" she asked as Julia crossed her arms.  
  
"Fine. But it's your fault if these people think I'm mad."  
  
"You're not going to see them again, Jules." Luna retorted, patting the walls once again. They worked in silence, and soon a cry emitted in Julia's direction.  
  
"Luna! My hand's disappearing!" she ran to Julia, who put her hand on the perfectly solid looking wall, and discovered that her hand went right through it.  
  
"This must be it! Come on!" Luna cried happily and pushed Julia through the wall, to which she closed her eyes and opened them to an astonishing sight. A great big red steam engine labelled, 'Hogwarts Express' shined down on them, with crowds of kids and parents running about, getting on the train or leaving it, trying to haul their trunks into the train. As to those trunks that didn't fit through the door, it widened, letting them through.  
  
"Wow." Was all Julia could say and they clambered aboard, rushing about to find a seat as the train was bound to leave any minute. Finally, they found an empty compartment and they sat with a groan of exhaustion on the comfortable seats opposite each other. Just as the train began to move, the door slid open and a girl about Julia's age stood in the doorway, puffing from exhaustion and brushing her long bushy brown hair from her face.  
  
"Mind if I join you? Most of the carriages are full. And the other prefects said I could leave to study. They're talking too much for me to concentrate." The pair smiled and shook their heads. The girl planted herself on the seat next to Julia and opened a thick text book, watching the girls who stared out the window in the corner of her eye. "Are you new?" the girl asked. The girl with long wavy black hair tied into four buns turned to her and replied,  
  
"No, we're not. We're not coming for education anyway. We're coming to see Dumbledore." The girl sighed nervously and introduced herself.  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger. Current 5th year at Hogwarts." They nodded to her in approval and they replied,  
  
"I'm Luna Kaguya."  
  
"Julia Holdsworth."  
  
"Pleased to meet you guys. But I have my O.W.L.S. this year. I have to study!" Hermione exclaimed, picking out of her bag a book for transfiguration and proceeded to read it and write notes.  
  
After half an hour of complete silence, the door opened and a figure stepped inside, flanked by two burly boys. Luna was immediately on edge in front of the intruder. He had blonde hair, slicked back on his head to give an appearance that he was bald. He was already wearing his robes for Hogwarts.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a bored tone. "Come for more taunting? Because I don't think your threats are any use anymore." The 'leader' of the pack sneered at her back but all the same, Hermione's head did not move from her book as Luna and Julia watched from the sidelines.  
  
"Mudblood, you don't know what you're getting yourself into." Malfoy growled in rage.  
  
"I don't? Your insults don't compare with seeing horrors associated with You-Know-Who..." She countered in a murmur, flipping to the index and running her finger down the lines of words completely ignoring Malfoy. He narrowed his eyes and sent his associates to Hermione, who proceeded into tearing her books apart.  
  
"Oh for Christ's sake!" cried Julia and she punched each of the fat boys who had no muscle in the face. Hard. They fell back to Malfoy's feet rumbling the train on impact. "Tearing her books?!" Julia shook her head in disappointment. "Is that the best you can come up with?!" For the first time, Malfoy looked to Julia, becoming startled by her beauty and choice of dress. Her light brown hair fell lazily into her Prussian blue eyes that matched the colour of the stripes of her shirt, which the neckline stretched to her shoulders. Her suede beige skirt hung gently to her knees, failing to hide her thin, but healthy glowing legs. Her temper would suit the Malfoys too. He prevented himself from slapping himself as his thoughts trailed from his usual demeanour. He was snapped out of his stupor as another girl, no, woman walked in front of his vision. Although she was shorter than himself, her shining long black hair only made her seem to be some sort of Authority.  
  
Trying to recompose himself, he replied arrogantly to Hermione, "I'll see to you at school." And with a 'wingardium leviosa', he was gone.  
  
"Good riddance!" yelled Julia down the hallway to Malfoy's back, to which he flinched involuntarily and continued. Upon re-entering her compartment, she sat next to Hermione, who whimpered softly to her ruined book. Seeing her hurt look, Luna stepped to her, letting her hand glow and the book repaired itself, in pristine condition.  
  
"Wow!" cried Hermione in glee. "Thanks! How do you do that?"  
  
"It's a gift." Replied Luna as Julia smirked to her friend and then to Hermione.  
  
"Nice punch." Commented Hermione, and they burst into a fit of giggles.  
  
###  
  
Wha'cha thinks? That's the second chapter done! Review my work, and I'll see if I can correct whatever you throw at me!  
  
Juni Juni 


	3. Bienvenues Chez Nous

Lunar Shift ~ Bienvenues Chez Nous! ~  
  
AN: Sorry that I haven't updated in quite a while, I've been pretty busy as of late (I know I know, crap excuse) but I promise to update more regularly once I receive a few reviews. But thanks for the ones I already have!  
  
###  
  
Once the train slowed to halt at Hogsmeade platform, hundreds of students spilled out all of different ages ranging from 11 to 17. Near the rear of the red train, three girls, one in uniform with a shining red badge bearing the mark 'P', said their goodbyes to one another as they were sure to see each other again and the one in uniform wanted to join her friends. She told the pair about Harry and Ron, filled with many adventures, and the two girls couldn't help but smile at Hermione's enthusiasm to talk about her best friends.  
  
"I'll see you around!" she called among the sea of black robes. Julia and Luna waved back and watched for a moment as Hermione greeted her friends laughing on the way to the waiting carriages. The pair sighed a little and Luna guided her friend to the line of transport. As they walked along the line trying to find a spare, they stared, for Julia saw nothing holding the carriages up, and Luna saw some kind of mythical horse-like creature with leathery wings supporting them. Luna shuddered as she imagined them for some reason as a human and saw a tattered vampire.  
  
Finding no spares, Julia spotted one with just one seat empty, three of them seated with Malfoy and his cronies. She groaned. "Luna there's absolutely _no_ spaces left, apart from that one." She pointed at a distance holding her face in her hands in annoyance. "There _has_ to be another one.  
  
"There isn't." Luna replied. "Come here a minute." And she darted behind a bush." Julia followed anxiously, and gained the shock of her life as Luna showered herself with moonlight sparkles, and shrunk to the size of a cat. Blinking her red eyes, Luna shook her black coat a little and stretched. "Much better." The cat said.  
  
"Jesus Christ!" Julia yelled immediately clamping her hand to her mouth. "No wonder it's a cat planet!"  
  
"Once you've regained your composure can we _go_?" Julia smiled warily and picked Luna up, to which she wriggled and stood on her shoulders instead. "Go quick, the carriages might leave without us!" Julia nodded and strode up to the empty seat, plonking herself next to Malfoy without a word and letting Luna rest on her lap. She stubbornly kept her gaze to the outside.  
  
"What do you think you're doing in _our_ carriage?" Malfoy spat, though unconsciously he hoped she would stay. 'My words aren't exactly helping.' Crabbe and Goyle watched stupidly at the two, clenching their fists in case they had to resort to violence, though unconsciously they hoped they didn't need to as Goyle rubbed his black eye and Crabbe stroked his split lip and large bruise. To their shock, the girl didn't even turn around, she just gave Malfoy the finger and said,  
  
"Leave me alone Malfoy." His nostrils flared at this mere _girl's_ defiance, but inwardly thought 'Good move'.  
  
"Then I demand to know your name!" The cat in her lap hissed, with all her sharp teeth bared. He sneered in response, as she gave no answer. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered.  
  
"Actually no. But I think she'll have yours once you've finished with it." Her gaze remained impassive to the clear and cold night sky. Her prosecutor narrowed his piercing blue eyes and ran his hand over his slicked back blonde hair, keeping the stray strands in place. Of all the nerve! She should not be so defiant to a Malfoy. He has a high powered father who could ruin her life!  
  
"Who are you?" he ordered. She turned her head to him and sneered,  
  
"None of your damn business!" She glanced to the front of the carriage and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Tell me this, how do these carriages operate with no hold?"  
  
"You should already know that. Unless you're a mudblood." He sneered with a smirk in his smile.  
  
"Mud-whaty?" Julia replied looking at him with superiority at which Malfoy unconsciously sat up to level her gaze.  
  
"Hey, she really is a mudblood! MUGGLE IN CARRIAGE 5!!!" he yelled out the window to which the numerous carriages behind them exploded into 'WHAT?!'  
  
"Oh muggle!" Julia replied. "Right I get-'cha. Sure I am, not for long though."  
  
"What do you mean 'not for long'?"  
  
"Luna'll give me magical abilities soon." She replied, smiling to the cat in her lap. "Aren't you?" Luna only glared in return. "eh...heh heh." 'Of course she will, she saved me. Saved me from that horrible life on the streets. And here I am, walking into a castle...like a princess.' The unwelcome belt of laughter from three of the lesser mortals sharing her carriage shattered her thoughts. (AN: Remember she's still in 'princess' mode). She frowned. "What's so funny?" she asked as the carriages slowed to a halt outside a magnificent castle, however as she descended from her seat she couldn't but glare at Malfoy.  
  
"A cat!" he laughed. "Give you...! Magic...?!" Each word was punctuated by a snort of laughter that pierced her to the soul. 'How _dare_ he! How DARE he make fun of my _friend_!' Without warning, and without any thought, Julia found her hands clasped around Malfoy's throat, squeezing as she felt a large pulse of blood in his cold veins. Her eyes remained on his neck, above it turned blue, and below a pulsating red. She did not take notice of his gasping and efforts to remove her hands. Luna hissed sharply, lightly scratching Julia's neck in warning.  
  
A crowd of students gathered round the pair, and as soon as Hermione found them with Harry and Ron, she desperately tried to find Luna but there was no one resembling her unique appearance. "Julia! Stop it!" She yelled, her eyes straying to a cat that had a crescent moon marking on its forehead and it scampered into the bushes by the Hogwarts entrance. Yet Julia did not yield.  
  
With a cry of anger Julia was forced off her feet as Crabbe and Goyle launched their bulky bodies to her frail frame making her careen into the grassy land. 'Oomph!' The crowd gasped at the display, Hermione grasped Ron's arm in the tension. They watched, stunned as the tall but thin girl found new strength and kicked the heavy bodies into the air to land in a heap at the feet of their gasping and red necked master. She stood defiantly and straightened her beret with a humph of indignation.  
  
"That's enough Julia!" shouted a voice of authority. The crowd's faces and the air stilled with in drawn breathe as a vision of a fairy appeared before them. Her eyes and crescent marking on her forehead flashed dangerously and her black rippling hair waved with the wind in unison of her yellow and black layered dress. She stormed to the girl and pinched Julia's ear with a glare. "I never thought I'd have to pick up a mischief maker off the road!"  
  
"Oww! Ow ow ow ow OW!" she yelled as Luna dug her nails into the ear. "Stop it you're hurting me, Luna!"  
  
"The pain you inflict should the pain you receive!" She tore her hand away in outrage and turned to Malfoy and his cronies. "Although your actions deserved it, _I_ will have to apologise for my friend." Malfoy glared at her, rubbing his neck where red hand marks were apparent. A few people in the crowd chortled in laughter. Malfoy coughed the last of the caught mucus in his breathing canal and said hoarsely,  
  
"Who are you? What is your name?" the second question though was directed to Julia who sulked against the stone wall of the castle.  
  
"Fair enough, my name is Luna Kaguya." She replied, and moonlight from the skies poured down onto her and was received by a welcoming moon marking. The crowd waited in bated breathe for what she was going to do. However from her fingertips exploded streams of light that seemed to follow the lines of her veins, and her clothes merged into a yellow Chinese dress covered by a cloak much resembling the crowds. As though nothing had happened, she pointed to Julia. "That unruly girl is Julia Holdsworth."  
  
"Hey." Julia said quietly. "I tried to keep my temper but I snapped okay? It's hard to keep mine with such a character next to me begging for my name." A round of laughter filled the crowd and one shouted,  
  
"Malfoy, you'll need to improve on your pick up lines!" Luna's and Julia's stare rested on a boy near Hermione, to whom she shushed. 'That must be the Harry Potter boy' thought Luna. She tilted her head a little to see him better through his glasses. Bright green eyes...'like Artemis''. She sighed wistfully but then shook her head. 'They will do well with or without me. They've grown up and it won't be long before Crystal Tokyo will shine.'  
  
"And I'm sure you know better, Potter." Malfoy spat back in a hoarse voice, though the hint of sarcasm could not be missed.  
  
"Maybe you should get your voice back before you try insults Malfoy! It might be a little better!" shouted out who Luna assumed was Ron. Flaming red hair startled her first, but he seemed to be of a good nature and heart.  
  
Suddenly the large, wooden doors of the castle swung open, and alone, in the doorway stood a small but very plump woman. She smiled a sugary sweet smile and said, "The feast may begin without you. Come along now." And she waddled out of sight. Luna could feel the hairs on her neck stand on end, a common feeling with a bad omen. Whisperings sailed through the crowd, wondering who this new visitor was and thinking that she was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Luna quickly grasped Julia's arm and they were caught in the sea of students entering the castle. Once they entered, they followed the crowd and soon found themselves in a huge hall, with four long tables set out and one at the end, no doubt for the teachers. Pulling Julia's arm a little, to which she hoped wasn't because she was still angry, Luna glided along the polished floors to a side of the hall, hidden behind a pillar. Some students saw them and they pointed and spoke in hushed voices of what the newcomers were going to do.  
  
However their hopes of action diminished as the feast arrived once the Sorting had finished. Yet Luna could not bring herself to tear her eyes from the ageing man in the golden chair. She could not bring herself to remember such a man behind half moon spectacles. For a moment Luna glanced to Julia who looked longingly to the food, begging some of it to come into her hands. Luna could tell that she was starving. So much food within arm's reach was too tempting for Julia to bear, but her mouth watering stopped as Luna's hand was laid on her lower arm. She pointed upwards and Julia held in a cry of surprise for there was no roof! 'There is a roof' Luna whispered to her ear. 'There must be some sort of spell on it.' Julia nodded, faintly seeing a beam of the ceiling, as though it was camouflaged. Her gaze was so fixed on the ceiling, that she made a small jump as Luna presented her with a burger and an orange coloured drink. Julia nodded in thanks and dug in, suspiciously drinking the pumpkin juice but growing to like it. In the corner of her eye, she could see Luna staring into the crowd of students. She followed the gaze, and saw Hermione, then her friend Harry, then another girl and another. She could only suppose that her friend was gazing intently at Harry.  
  
'You like Harry Potter?' she whispered down into Luna's ear, to which Luna sharply tore her gaze away and blushed beet red. She shook her head quickly after that. Julia grinned in triumph. She had caught her friend in action. "You do don't you?" Julia said a little louder, not fearing they would be discovered for the noise from the students was getting a little loud. Luna only shook her head harder making her black hair shimmer in the light. "So he's meant to be 'The Boy Who Lived' huh? Don't see how, looks like a wimp to me!" Julia continued, grinning down to the shorter Luna as she went redder, in fortified anger.  
  
"How do you know?!" she burst. "From what Hermione tells me, he has to be so courageous to endure all he's seen!"  
  
"Ha!" Julia laughed in victory. "Defence to someone you don't know! Looks like someone _does_ have a soft spot! I was only kidding you know. The one thing I can remember from my parents was 'don't judge a book by it's cover!'" She continued scornfully, "I don't know why I listen to that advice. As if they took it themselves. I can remember how they yelled 'filth' when they saw a tramp. I guess that would be what they'd call me huh?"  
  
"Hey. Don't waste your thoughts on your parents. They obviously don't deserve it." Luna replied, smiling softly to Julia for comfort, who nodded a tiny little nod. Though Luna sighed to herself and stared sadly to the ground, as though hoping someone would appear through it. She shook her head. 'I guess I miss him more than I would admit. I've only been apart from him when we were searching for the senshi. *sigh* his presence was always fun, and I guess I grew used to it. Harry Potter, change your eyes please!' "Just for the record, he's too -young- for me anyway, he just reminds me of someone, that's all."  
  
"...Right. What are we waiting for by the way?" Julia said, changing the subject abruptly as though the matter was dropped.  
  
Luna stopped her gazing and looked back up to the staff table. "I want to talk to Dumbledore privately. For that, I need to follow him to his office as a cat so that I can be quiet. I'm sorry, but you'll have to do something while I'm gone. Here-" she handed Julia an ear piece. "Wedge it into your ear, turn it on, like this-" she flicked a tiny switch on the ear piece to which a sudden jab dug into Julia's ear. "And to talk we'll need...this!" she held out her palm and in a small array of sparkles some tiny devices appeared. "Clip it onto a tooth...and voila! We'll be able to talk to each other in case we get lost." Luna stopped and looked to the throng of students, watching them as they left the hall, then at the teachers leaving their chairs one by one. Julia followed her gaze, fiddling with the annoying electric device and saw the plump woman who opened the door into the castle. 'Sugary sweet voice huh?' Julia thought. 'I'd just _love_ to meet her.' Her tone in her voice was rather sinister, something no one would want to be on the receiving end.  
  
As Dumbledore got up and left, Luna winked to Julia and shrank before her very eyes into the black cat from earlier, "Who said muggles we useless eh?". Julia snorted thinking of all the stupid things humans have done to the planet through listening to the news. But in her musing she just managed to spot a group of young students being led by Granger and Weasley before they disappeared through the doorway. She turned back, only to see Luna scamper through another doorway after Dumbledore. 'Right.' Julia thought. 'Let's go.' She ran through the empty hall after the three friends and ran up some circular steps, catching notice of the changed stairways but just as she turned a corner, she stopped and listened. Feeling like some kind of fugitive she heard some footsteps that grew louder then fainter as whoever it was walked away. Peering round, she only saw the trails of the line of young students and a tabby cat with yellow eyes. She shuddered. This cat definitely wasn't as well groomed as Luna. Ignoring its stare, she ran through the corridor where she was sure she saw the group turn into.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Just a large painting of a large lady in pink. Walking up to it in abating breathe, she was about to turn another corner by the painting when she stopped and looked back to the painting. The woman moved in picture and peered down at her with noble eyes.  
  
"Password?" she demanded slowly.  
  
Julia peered up and whispered on her breathe, 'password? This must be where they went!' "What is your name?" Julia asked the fat lady.  
  
"That is none of your concern unless you are part of those behind this frame."  
  
"There must be many there to hide behind someone _that_ large..." Julia muttered. "Okay, um, open sesame?" Under the lady's piercing stare she continued, "...alakazam?...hocus pocus?...OPEN UP!" Julia grumbled in defeat and leant against the stone wall, banging her head on it in the process in exasperation. She turned her earpiece and mouthpiece on and hissed, "What's the password to get to Hermione?"  
  
~~~  
  
Slinking camouflaged in the shadows, Luna managed to keep on a close tail to Dumbledore, even when he opened a wall with a sweetie password. She waited on the inside of the door for Dumbledore to turn his back to emerge in her human guise and step out into the light. As Dumbledore sat in his large chair, he said,  
  
"Who do I have for the pleasure of company?"  
  
Startled, Luna stepped out of the shadows and sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore. He watched her over his glasses, an amused grin on his face. "I am Luna Kaguya." She said formerly, straightening her yellow and black dress. "What is it that amuses you so?"  
  
"It is not everyday I find a beautiful lady in the office of an old man like me."  
  
Luna couldn't help but have herself grin a little. Her reaction set Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye that made Luna think about her past. Her face suddenly contorted into pain as she saw an image of herself being slammed into a wall. Through the eyes of the girl by the wall, she looked up and saw a pleasantly handsome young man, with blue eyes that twinkled in mirth. As the girl gasped, Luna also gasped and awoke from her brief reverie. Dumbledore looked her way in concern and opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a bit of chocolate.  
  
Heaving a little from the memory and pain the woman against the wall gave her, she turned her head a little and saw Dumbledore hand her some chocolate. Confused and shocked, she accepted it and ate it slowly, letting its warmth spread through her body. Her hard breathing ceased, and she managed to sit properly again. "Are you alright?" the old man asked. Luna nodded feebly and sighed. "Then if you would be so kind as to tell me why you are here?"  
  
Luna sighed again and contemplated how to answer this question without sounding as Julia aptly put it: 'a crackpot.' "Well- " she started, and again, her mind drifted, to an office remarkably like this one, with the same young man at the desk, and she was looking through the eyes of that woman again. She could see herself wring her hands, and the man was looking at her amusedly, just like Dumbledore would have. Gasping again, she looked up to Dumbledore, and continued, "As soon as I heard your name I knew I had to find you. I don't know why, but I know you will help me in some way."  
  
Luna watched as Dumbledore stared at his phoenix on its perch, as though in deep thought. She took this time to look at her surroundings, at the paintings of previous headmasters and stacks upon stacks of books. She saw the Sorting Hat on a bookshelf, and alongside it sat a magnificent sword that gleamed in the moonlight streaming through the window. Suddenly Dumbledore stood and went to a cabinet by the door. Opening it and pulling some kind of stone basin from it, he placed it gently on his desk and took out his wand. He placed the tip on his forehead, and then to the gaseous liquid. It swirled in acceptance of a new thought and he said,  
  
"I was wondering when I'd find you." Luna raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You know about me?"  
  
"Of course. All of my thoughts have been stored in this pensive, as were those from the Silver Millennium." Luna gasped and cried,  
  
"No wonder I thought I knew you! Oh, I should have thought of this!" Dumbledore smiled warmly and said,  
  
"Now I'm sure you would like to remember how we knew each other, hm?" Luna nodded faintly and walked to Dumbledore's welcoming hands. "Simply let your mind wander into the pensive and you will see into your past life." She nodded and followed his orders. Her brain did not register the pleas of Julia's voice.  
  
~~~  
  
She stamped her foot on the floor in exasperation and grunted her displeasure. 'Great. I can't believe she isn't replying.' As she looked down the halls she spotted two girls heading her way. Carefully keeping herself hidden behind a suit of armour she heard them say a password, but it was long and strange that she forgot it at the next second.  
  
"Wait!" she cried desperately. Before one of them entered the portrait hole and the painting was opened at it's fullest, the red headed girl whirled around and spotted Julia.  
  
"Can I help you?" she was standing next to a slightly taller boy, (though not as tall as herself) and he tried to measure himself up to straighten to Julia's nose. Obviously he was thinking if _he_ could take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed.  
  
"Yes, I'm looking for Hermione Granger. Is she back there?"  
  
"She should be. Hang on." Just as she was going to enter the portrait hole she yelled back to the boy, "Michael I'll see you tomorrow!" He raised his eyebrows in indignation of being blown off and hurried down the corridor. Once the girl returned with Hermione in tow, they ushered Julia in with them and plonked her onto the sofa. At once two boys, a little older than Julia hurried to her side and for a moment she could see tears in the twins' eyes.  
  
"Excellent welcoming for the Slytherins!" one said.  
  
"We are forever in your debt! How can we continue your wondrous work?" Now if she could remember correctly, Slytherin was another house, and this one from seeing some first years, was Gryffindor. She smiled sweetly to the boys kneeling before her and said,  
  
"I'm sure you can do better than beat a couple of Malfoy's cronies. Why don't you - simply give Malfoy a _treat_ to remember?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief, as did the twins', and they nodded. The 'treat' bit gave them an idea... "Why don't you tell me your names, oh mischief makers?"  
  
"Fred Weasley."  
  
"George Weasley."  
  
"Okay, then I dub you, 'Trickery twins!" They grinned, and nodded, taking a roll of parchment from a table and huddled over it. Why they did so, Julia did not know. Turning back to the other girls on the armchairs, the ginger said,  
  
"I'm Ginny Weasley, those were my brothers. I think they'll love you now!" Julia chuckled and replied,  
  
"I hope they can keep up with their new name...I'm Julia Holdsworth by the way."  
  
"What happened to Kaguya?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Oh um," Julia grinned nervously. "She just had to do something, we'll be leaving once she's done." The girls glanced at each other and knew not to impose too much. "But she has to do it alone, so she told me to take a wander around Hogwarts. But," she sighed. "This place is so big I could never do it alone." They nodded in understanding and Ginny yawned. Looking at her watch, Julia noticed the time and said, "You guys don't have to stay. You've got school tomorrow and it's already pretty late."  
  
Ginny stood up and stretched out her arms. "In that case, I'm going to bed." She suddenly recoiled and held on her shoulder, wincing a little. She laughed nervously and said, "That bruise from this morning still hurts."  
  
"From what?" Julia asked.  
  
"Fred and George dropped a trunk and it hit Ginny. She ended up collapsing down the stairs." Hermione replied for her.  
  
"Oo!" Julia winced. "Get better soon!"  
  
"I will. Night night." Ginny said with another yawn and trudged up some stairs. The common room was now empty apart from the two girls, as they stared into the fire.  
  
"You don't have to stay." Julia said quietly into the silence. Hermione nodded and got up. "There wouldn't happen to be a book though that I could read?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders and replied,  
  
"I've only got some magic books for this year."  
  
"I'll read those."  
  
"You sure?" Julia nodded. "Okay, what subject would you like, I've got Potions, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Astrology, oh can't think of any of my other ones." Julia smiled at the large choice.  
  
"I'll take Transfiguration." Hermione nodded and went upstairs to get her books. Once she had disappeared, Julia heard some footsteps from the other flight of stairs and the one and only Harry Potter appeared, staring at the stone floors. He didn't look up, even when he stepped in front of Julia into another armchair with a sigh. A few moments passed before Julia spoke.  
  
"Are you alright?" Harry yelled in surprise, jumping and falling onto the carpeted floor in front of the fire. He frantically searched for the speaker, and saw Julia's innocent face staring at him resting in her hands that were balanced on her elbows that were on her knees. She smiled kindly and offered a hand to help him up. He accepted gratefully and sat back onto his seat, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "You didn't answer my question."  
  
"Oh, right. I - I'm fine." Julia's lips tightened into a thin line.  
  
"Sure, sure. Mr Potter - I'm sure you realised by now that I have a short temper?" he nodded a little.  
  
"So lying will not help matters." She smiled brightly and said, "I'm Julia Holdsworth, Hermione might have told you. I'm just a visitor, so if it's a secret, it's safe with me." Harry stared at her smiling and strangely warm face that contrasted occasionally with her temper and found himself smiling a little. He nodded and plunged into his story. A couple of minutes after he started, Hermione descended the stairs and offered her books, only to immediately head back upstairs, to which Harry could continue.  
  
~~~  
  
Luna's very still body over the pensive suddenly regained its spirit and came to life. Shock was written all over her face. She straightened herself and looked back up to Dumbledore. "DD-sensei?" she whispered.  
  
He smiled.  
  
###  
  
Please review! I'd like to know if I should continue! 


	4. Au Revoir au Monde Normale

AN: Thanks for the reviews!  
  
~Au Revoir au Monde Normale~  
  
###  
  
Long throughout the night, Julia watched as Harry slept on the big armchair opposite her as she read her book on Transfiguration. It was really very interesting, and she mimicked the wand movements with her hand movements. At times she wondered if Luna _was_ going to give her magic powers. She hoped so. From what Harry told her, people here considered the ways of magic quite boring, especially History of Magic (which she couldn't blame, history was quite tedious). But to her, magic was entrancing and learning to do these spells was almost like her child fantasies come true.  
  
It was almost four in the morning when she decided to give the book a rest and she laid back on the sofa, sighing in comfortable pleasure. For a moment she stared out the window, where the moon was very nearly full and shining in all its glory. Eyes closed, she let her mind wander into the peaceful depths of the dream realm, feeling only the slow and steady breathing of her chest rising and lowering.  
  
Her thoughts spread to the past, and that's how her dream started.  
  
~Dream~  
  
"Mummy! Mummy!" cried a little girl with light brown hair in pigtails. Her mother stood in the long and straight road, so far away that she was just a silhouette on the horizon of the setting sun. The little girl ran, as fast as her podgy legs could carry her but she tripped on her feet and fell hard onto the tarmac of the road. Her mother did not stop, did not notice her daughter, and continued on her way.  
  
Sobbing, the little girl sniffled and said to herself as her mother was too far away, "I want to show you a picture I made. A picture I did with the chalk in the garden and the black paper we have-"  
  
"Child! The black card is for invitations!" scolded a voice from behind her. Turning her small head, the little girl saw another silhouette of a man. He was tall, and judging by his stance, he was angry. He bent down, and hit the girl hard on the cheek.  
  
She stopped crying.  
  
She rubbed her cheek gently as her father took her drawing and scowled again. "Never show that scribble to anyone. Understand?" Surprised and thankful that he didn't tear it up, he threw it back to her like a piece of rubbish. She wanted to cry, but she didn't dare. She only thanked her father quietly and stood in the long and deserted road behind the silhouetted couple who were holding hands and ignoring her completely.  
  
The little girl dropped the scribble.  
  
The little girl turned, and ran.  
  
Looking at the picture, was a house amidst a garden with trees and flowers with a bright sun smiling above them. In front of the house was the little girl with a wide grin on her face, holding her mother's hand and her father's hand was on her shoulders.  
  
Together as a family.  
  
But the scene changed, to one in the middle of the night. The grown up little girl was lying on a grassy field, staring up the once starry sky. Her blurred features were lit up a little by the crescent moon's glare as the grown up little girl stared intently at it. Suddenly the area convulsed making the moon shrink, and the night sky turned skin coloured. Now a miniature version of the grown up little girl was held up by the palm of unmistakably none other than the silhouette of Luna Kaguya. The crescent moon on her forehead shone brightly in comparison with her body, and her mouth opened into a wide, evil grin.  
  
"Bye bye, child!" Luna tilted her palm and the grown up little girl fell into the unfathomable depths of the black air, her screams echoing all around her. Luna was leaving her, she was deserting her!  
  
Just like her parents.  
  
But wait! "Jules-chan!" came a cry, and the grown up little girl landed softly in Luna's lap, who smiled down to her warmly. Luna shrank, and transformed into a huge black cat who curled up and let the grown up little girl climb onto her tail only to snuggle deeply into the cat's warm fur.  
  
Luna purred and the grown up little girl smiled to herself as she closed her eyes to sleep. Opening them for a brief moment, the grown up little girl found herself lying across Luna's lap as a human, her hands stroking her hair affectionately. Once again the grown up little girl closed her eyes, and slept peacefully.  
  
"...Mummy..."  
  
~End Dream~  
  
"AH!" Julia shot up from her slumber, her eyes wide searching for someone in the room when they landed on an equally shocked Harry in the armchair opposite her.  
  
"Bad dream?" he asked. Julia nodded faintly.  
  
"What time is it?" she asked.  
  
"Six in the morning. Another hour and we can go to breakfast."  
  
She nodded again and sighed. That dream... it was already escaping her memory but she could faintly remember someone she considered as a mother. Was it Luna? No. That was stupid. "Did you have a bad dream?" she asked, trying to forget about it. Whatever the dream was, part of it can't have been nice as she was filled partly with anger and partly with warmth.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, rubbing his scar on his forehead.  
  
"What's wrong?" Julia asked, fiddling with her black beret.  
  
"Nothing, just my scar." With her questioning look he continued, "Basically there's this evil guy that everyone in the wizarding world fears. He gave me this scar when I was little and every time I dream of him I wake up with it hurting."  
  
Julia nodded. "Oh, is it some kind of link with him?"  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"What's this guy's name?"  
  
"Um, well, not many people like to call him by his name, they get too scared. They usually call him 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' or 'You-Know- Who'."  
  
Julia grinned. Harry couldn't think of anything remotely funny. "Are you scared?"  
  
Ah. "No!" He replied a bit too quickly for his liking. "Um, in fact I usually call him by his name, but whenever I do, people cringe! He's called Voldemort."  
  
Julia raised her eyebrows. "I see, Voldemort...sounds French." Harry laughed.  
  
"He's anything _but_ French!"  
  
"You've met him?" Julia asked. "Since you were a kid I mean."  
  
"Yup, three times."  
  
"And this guy's meant to be all powerful?"  
  
"Mm hm." Harry replied, lying back again and yawning. This caught Julia and she yawned too.  
  
"I hate catching yawns!" Julia said and threw a pillow at Harry. He growled and threw it back. Grabbing two, she charged and jumped on him, hitting the pillow on his face, making sure his glasses were safely tucked under the armchair so as not to break them.  
  
"Hey! Hey! Stop it!" he yelled, as she stopped for a moment. A moment later, she thwacked him again. He glared at her and growled, "This means WAR." And he reached for the nearest pillow, hitting her across the head as she retaliated.  
  
Amid the mass of feathers on the floor and the laughing duo, was a small piece of machinery that beeped and quietly said, "Jules? Jules can you hear me? It's Luna!" Julia never noticed, and with a quick dodge, she promptly stepped on the piece of equipment that was dislodged from her ear and now broken.  
  
~~~  
  
Luna sighed in frustration and gripped her head to stop the incoming migraine. She turned her head slightly to see Dumbledore standing by the wall, smiling softly as though hiding a secret. "Oh stop it, DD-sensei, she's obviously just taken one of the pieces out or something. Besides, your spells didn't help on my migraine."  
  
"Ah yes, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have your migraine." Luna rolled her eyes. "But if it weren't for me, you won't be prepared for the dangers of the upcoming years."  
  
"Yes yes," Luna said in an annoyed tone. "And I suppose I'm staying for your training?"  
  
"Of course, I made spells and jinxes, and I have no one to pass them onto, unless you're willing too."  
  
"I'd love to, but I don't know what to do about Julia. She's under my care you see, and she's had a terrible past as far as I can gather. She needs me."  
  
Dumbledore opened the door from the large and empty wooded room and led her into his office where Fawkes the phoenix chirped in welcome for the morning. The previous headmasters were all snoring in their frames. "I believe we could enroll Julia to this school."  
  
"You could? Really?"  
  
"As it is the beginning of term, I see no problem." Dumbledore replied, flipping through his book of pupils, his gaze stopping on 'Potter, Harry'. "In fact I should like to meet this girl who has caught your attention."  
  
"Yes, you can, as soon as I find her that is." Dumbledore turned to his magical clock on the wall and smiled.  
  
"I believe we shall meet her in breakfast. Care to join me?"  
  
"You're too polite!"  
  
They chuckled and made their way downstairs.  
  
~~~  
  
Two exhausted teens sat on their prospective chairs and sighed. Catching each other's eye, they laughed merrily.  
  
"Six forty-five, I'll go and get changed, then we can go to breakfast." Julia smiled and nodded as he ran up the stairs. He was a queer one, but he was nice, and as good a friend as Hermione would be, maybe better. Now what happened to Luna? She couldn't have spent all night with Dumbledore could she? Maybe they had a lot of catching up to do. She took a finger to the imaginary earpiece to flick it on, when she noticed nothing was there.  
  
"Shit."  
  
She searched frantically amid the feathers on the floor when she heard a faint crunch. Spinning around, she lifted her foot and paled. The shattered silvery pieces lay on the carpet and glinted softly to her.  
  
"Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!" she swore and gathered the pieces and placed them on the table by the fireplace. They were jumbled, and there was no way she could put them back together. This was bad. If Luna found out, this might be the last straw for her to handle and she might slip from Luna's grip. Julia gasped as she remembered part of her dream. Luna was going to abandon her! Like her parents! She refused to cry, as they showed her weakness, and she smiled faintly as Harry descended the stairs again in his Hogwarts robes.  
  
"Looking good!" she said, trying to joke and forget the upcoming scolding from her surrogate mother.  
  
"Thanks! You too!" he replied. She looked at him condescendingly and hit his hat so that it tilted in the wrong direction.  
  
"Idiot, I'm still as I was when we woke up!"  
  
"Then clean yourself up!"  
  
"Fine. I will." Julia stormed past him and went to a small mirror, brushing her short hair with her fingers and straightening her beret. She removed the creases and turned to stand next to Harry. "Let's go then!" Just as he opened the portrait hole, Julia heard a loud crack and turned, to see nothing. "What was that?" she asked.  
  
"Probably just the house-elves doing the cleaning before everyone gets up." Looking back again, she noticed that indeed, the cushions were straightened and the table was back in its place. The feathers went next.  
  
Julia smiled weakly and followed Harry, the Fat Lady calling after them, "Early risers!"  
  
Upon entering the Great Hall, Julia followed him as he sat at one of the four long tables, a full plate instantly appearing for Harry as he sat down. She sat opposite him, but nothing appeared for her. With a questioning glance, he shrugged his shoulders and offered some of his food to which she declined.  
  
"Julia! There you are! Why didn't you reply?" Luna appeared behind her and sat next to Julia, crossed arms and slightly angry. Julia laughed weakly.  
  
"Um, well, the earpiece broke." Luna took this in and with a 'Hm!' she made another appear.  
  
"Here, make sure this one doesn't break. How did it happen?" Julia then told her about the evening and morning and Harry and herself slightly blushed at the prospect of a pillow fight at six in the morning.  
  
"Well, okay..." Julia smiled, completely relieved, and then another part of the dream returned to her, when she landed in Luna's lap of refuge. Suddenly she hugged Luna tightly, and beamed. "Um, Harry, could you excuse us a moment?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Harry caught Dumbledore's eye at the teacher's table, and a for some reason, he felt as though he wanted to strangle him. Like a climax building up, a snake welled up inside him. 'No, that's stupid, Dumbldore's nice, I wouldn't want to hurt him!' Suddenly the feeling disappeared, as Dumbledore averted his gaze and Julia and Luna walked between the other tables.  
  
Suddenly Julia cried in happiness and hugged Luna again tightly. He could faintly hear Julia saying, '"Let's go! I want to start as soon as possible!" 'Start what?' Harry wondered as he took a bite into his toast. He felt the table move as Julia jumped back onto the bench and said urgently,  
  
"Harry, guess what? I'm going to join you in this school! And Luna's staying!...Though I don't know why...HEY LUNA!" And before Harry could say anything she darted off to speak to Luna at the teacher's table. Harry chewed on this piece of news, wondering which house she'd be in. And he realised 'she's staying. I'll see her a lot of the time,' and before he knew it, he was happy and glad. Hermione would want to get to know her better, and Ron has had yet to meet her. He laughed a little as he thought that she'd be getting into more rows with Malfoy.  
  
But what is Luna going to be doing here? She looked the same age as Julia, yet for some reason he doubted she was any younger than eighteen. If that were true, then she'd be too old for the seventh year. Then he remembered whom Luna was here for. Dumbledore. He'd have to ask about that later.  
  
~~~  
  
Through the long corridors of Hogwarts school, Luna and Julia chatted quietly among themselves. Students rushed past them, some weighed down by books and some talking animatedly about their lessons. Julia couldn't wait to be part of that crowd. "...And you'll have to have extra tutoring, Dumbledore promised that he would do it himself. You're lucky that Snape isn't, I overheard that he's a nasty one."  
  
"...Luna...when are you going to give me some magic?" Julia asked, practically only listening to Luna with half an ear. Luna stopped in the middle of the corridor even though Julia carried on walking. Running to catch up, Luna replied,  
  
"The transfer of powers is a little complicated, and since I can't transfer my own power, I have to act a funnel for moonlight. So, I need a night with the full moon."  
  
"Oh that's okay, there's one tonight I think."  
  
"I thought as much." Luna paused, her face contorted into concentration. "But the magic I give to you doesn't need to be amplified by a wand. In a sense with a wand, you'll be very powerful. I can't do it any other way I'm afraid. You'll have to practice without a wand."  
  
"Oh! Well, that's okay! I was practising some wand movements with my hands last night anyway."  
  
"From the Transfiguration book?"  
  
"Yep, it's really interesting actually. I flipped to the back of the book and read about animagi, people who can change shape to an animal. Eventually I want to learn that, then I can go around with you when you're a cat. We can spy and stuff!"  
  
"And I'm not stopping you." Julia smiled to Luna as they walked down the changing stairwell and headed outside.  
  
"Do you think I can do it? Become an animagi I mean." Julia asked as they opened the doors to the crisp morning. Ahead of them, they could see a little hut and a large lake to their right, and to their left a dying willow tree.  
  
"Oh I think you should believe whatever you want to believe. A friend told me, that belief is the only way to get through in life. I suppose that's way she can be so stubborn." Julia's eyes widened, as she noticed for the first time, that her friend had a melancholy expression on her young features. It was quite heart wrenching, and she realised that she didn't know much about Luna's home in Japan.  
  
"Do you miss your home?" The question was so out of the blue that Luna missed a step going down from the castle and nearly tripped, were it not for Julia catching her before she fell.  
  
"Of course I do. I've never separated from those in Japan for a few millennia. That's why I think getting away is good for me." Luna took a step back and sat on the cold stone steps. She quickly added a cloak around her, and shot a piece of her power to Julia, who got suddenly warm in a thick cloak matching Luna's. "I...I was going to ask a good friend of mine to come with me, but he wasn't ready. He was from Mau too, but I guess he had a bond with Minako that he could never break." Julia cocked her head a little, wondering who Minako was but didn't want to pry too much.  
  
Suddenly without warning, Luna shrank down to her cat form and looked up saying, "Take your hat off for me." Confused, she complied, and Luna bounded to her shoulders, and crawled to her head, curling into a ball with her tail waving down Julia's neck.  
  
"Uh, what are doing?"  
  
"Trying to keep warm, what does it look like?" Somehow, Julia didn't buy it.  
  
"Wouldn't be a comfort thing would it?" she asked, walking towards the lake, her feet flattening and snapping the iced grass. She felt Luna's claws dig into her scalp and she yelped causing Luna to fall into Julia's arms. They glared at each other through the mist of condensation between them but Julia placed Luna on her shoulders to stop herself from throwing the cat to the cold ground. "You're not going on my head. My balance goes way off and you might have fleas."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
"Plus you make an excellent scarf!" Luna hissed, baring her teeth and letting her retractable claws show themselves. "Oooh, scaarry!" Luna glowered and sat on her shoulders, her brows (AN: where do they come from?!) furrowed into a slight scowl. Julia stopped by the lake and stared at the black depths.  
  
"You wouldn't happen to have a blanket and a book?"  
  
"You don't deserve them for treating a cat like this." Luna replied, nose held high.  
  
Thinking rapidly, Julia said, "If a genie came to me in the form of a cat, I might ask her for a house full of male, EARTH cats and chuck her in there with them."  
  
"Even if you did I wouldn't let you!" Luna retorted.  
  
"Would you if I dropped you in the lake?"  
  
"You know I could get out of that situation."  
  
"Even if Dumbledore said you had to stay in there?"  
  
"He wouldn't."  
  
"What about if Harry got possessed by Voldemort and held you in a painful curse?"  
  
That stumped Luna. "Fine, fine." Wait a minute... "You're trying to divert the objective of this argument!"  
  
Julia grinned. "But you would've given them to me, if you hadn't realised!"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Come on! I deserve it! I've lived through my childhood without a blanket and a book!"  
  
"Then you should barely be able to read."  
  
"I left just after -they- taught me. I've been keeping up since then by reading notices."  
  
Luna sighed, defeated, and her insignia glowed. The blanket lay on the cold ground with a book headed, 'Learn to be an Animagi.' Julia grinned and petted Luna's head as she sat on the pleasantly warmth induced blanket.  
  
Picking up the heavy book, she proceeded to learn.  
  
###  
  
Hm, at first I was going to do the pairings of Harry/Luna and Julia/Oliver, but then I realised the ages and saw how well Harry and Julia got along, so I'm probably gonna switch that. Tell me opinion on that if you have any.  
  
Sorry that this chapter's a little boring, I found that my hands were writing all on their own and I couldn't stop! I guess I'm prone to boring banter. Ug, that sounds like -I'm- boring doesn't it? Oh well!  
  
Tell me what you liked best, and what you didn't like so that I can avoid whatever in the future! 


	5. Je Suis Différente

I'm going to pretend that since this is occurring in the fifth book of Harry Potter, Hagrid has already returned with Grawp.  
  
###  
  
Two silhouettes scampered down the cold stone steps from the looming castle over their heads. They paused on the grass of the grounds, hoping that Hagrid in his cabin wouldn't notice them. The taller of the two pulled her hood over her head to remove her profile from view, the other, much smaller figure shrank until she was the size of a cat. Together they slinked across the castle's grounds and hid themselves in the dense forest of the night.  
  
Following a worn out path dotted by the moonlight of the full moon, the cat paused and seemed to breathe in the moonlight making her crescent moon insignia on her forehead glow dimly. The girl glanced from left to right, as though she could see into the darkness and see hidden dangers. For the moment there were none and the pair headed further into the forest.  
  
Once the moonlight was completely hidden by the thick canopy of the trees, the cat's forehead glowed brightly to shine their path. The girl cast more uneasy glances into the forest, slightly unnerved by the horror stories Harry Potter had told her the night before. Her steps were uneven and reluctant, and she almost tripped on the black cat beneath her feet.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked to the cat.  
  
"Something..." the cat replied in a hushed whisper. Her ears pivoted towards their right, and her ruby red eyes shot to its direction. The girl kept quiet and still. So did the forest, and whatever that scared the cat.  
  
"Luna...tell me, what's there?" the girl whispered.  
  
At first the lithe cat didn't respond, she only stared wide-eyed and calculating. 'They couldn't be here, there aren't any left! They were killed off!' The cat thought, desperately hoping her fears were incorrect. "Nothing." The cat replied, hoping her friend would take the lie. "Just a feeling," and the cat carried onwards, prowling around the girl, making sure there were no dangers whatsoever.  
  
"How far do we need to go?" the girl whispered.  
  
"Far enough to not be seen."  
  
Suddenly more moonlight shone over them like a comfort blanket as they reached a clearing in the forest. Trees had been knocked down and reduced to splinters by some kind of struggle. The space was wide and dangerous to prey, but luckily Luna had some defensive magic.  
  
"Okay, this will be fine for the process, stand over there." The cat said, looking up to the moon as though watching to make sure it was in a correct position. The girl shifted uneasily on the spot, tonight was the most important of her life. No time to get the jitters.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry woke up with a start with his scar prickling. Rubbing it gently, he thought of his dream, but by now he could hardly remember it. Then he realised how light the room was. Was it daytime already? Had he missed breakfast? When he heard Neville's snores he assumed everyone was still in bed. He was about to shout to get them up before they missed breakfast, but upon opening the curtains, he stumbled back onto bed, temporarily blinded by the amount of light entering the dormitory. Looking round, Neville was still snoring, and the others were still sleeping soundly. Looking to the clock, it still said 'naptime'. Bewildered, he closed the curtains again and quietly went down the cold stone steps to the common room, heading directly for the windows and with closed eyes he opened the curtains.  
  
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he focused to the centre of the phenomenon where most of the light was concentrated in mid air, slightly above the trees of the Forbidden Forest.  
  
What was going on...?  
  
He thought of many different theories, one of which being some kind of ritual on the night on the full moon for some kind of animal living in the forest. It must've been secret, for otherwise he was sure that his friends would have woken up. He opened the window and he was further surprised by a chorus of angelic voices that rang with a catlike 'meow'. His theory was developed to the animal being some kind of cat. Even though he was curious and tired, he couldn't help but be enchanted by this magical event.  
  
Sitting himself on the windowsill, he let himself drift to sleep by the sound of angelic meows. (AN: I honestly don't know where this silly idea came from, it just makes me laugh!)  
  
~~~  
  
Practically half asleep, Julia trudged through the castle, dragging her feet and carrying the weight of Luna on her shoulders.  
  
"DD-sen- *yawn!* -sei says we can stay in the guest room behind the painting of the Moon palace...he thought.he thought it was fitting." The cat said, half yawning from exhaustion.  
  
"Wherezat?" Julia slurred, stumbling up the moving staircases.  
  
"Fi...fifth floor, next to a suit of arms."  
  
Not bothering to reply, not bothering to rub her itchy forehead, Julia stepped up the stairs and made it higher and higher with every step, occasionally stopping for a large yawn.  
  
Finally they passed the shiny suit of arms which greeted them with a small wave and Julia stopped short in front of the panoramic painting of a grand marble palace. "How do I get in?" Julia asked, and before she knew it, four figures garbed in a uniform of sorts, but each in a different colour approached. The girl never got a reply from Luna, for she was staring at the painting, lost in memories.  
  
"You won't get in here!" the figure in red said.  
  
"But unless you have the password," the one in green said-  
  
"Just say the word," the figure in blue said-  
  
"And you'll be welcomed!" finished the orange and blue figure.  
  
Julia stared, boggled at this painting. "Luna...I need a password!"  
  
"*yawn!* Mare Sere- Serenatis." The four senshi smiled down on them and the girl suddenly felt very small under their gaze. The red one especially intimidated her. However now that she looked carefully through her eyes clouded by tiredness, she realised that the palace looked much more real. "Get in it, I want to go to sleep!" Luna tiredly said.  
  
"H-How?" The cat rolled her eyes and bounded off Julia's shoulder and into the painting. There she was, on the grass under the moonlight in front of a magnificent palace. Instead of questioning, Julia followed blindly and jogged after Luna who disappeared through a gate to the side. Upon opening, they found what they were looking for.  
  
"BED!"  
  
~~~  
  
Deep down in the comforts of the fluffy bed, Luna woke, yawned and stretched. Blinking out her sleeping dust, she stretched again and tiredly flopped back on the bed, her tail waving lazily. Suddenly the bed jerked and a slumbering girl turned herself round under the thick duvet, to face the cat. The girl absent-mindedly scratched her forehead letting her light brown hair fall away from her face. Luna stared at her friend and suddenly her eyes opened wide.  
  
"THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" she cried out, which caused the girl to jerk upright and alert.  
  
"What's wrong? What happened?" she asked quickly. She turned to the black cat beside her and saw Luna's mouth open agape. She transformed back in her human form and pointed to Julia's forehead.  
  
"Ju-Julia! Go look in the mirror!" Luna said shakily. Julia scrunched up her face and gave the cat a condescending look. She rolled her eyes and got out of bed, still fully dressed and mumbled,  
  
"There had better be a good reason for this...huge spot or something?" Stomping into the side bathroom, she looked at herself under tired eyes. "What is it? I don't see anything!"  
  
Luna walked in behind her and lifted her messy fringe. Julia's reaction was exactly the same as Luna's.  
  
"WHAT?! No way!" Luna sighed and nodded, defeated.  
  
"I don't understand either, but I suppose what happened yesterday is a way back on Mau to get lunar powers. I don't remember my ceremony; it was years ago, so I suppose that's what happens." Luna paused, and looked to Julia who was still staring at herself in the mirror. "You won't need to get a wand, since you received lunar magic the wand will only amplify the sheer amount of magic you have already. Needless to say, your magic will have to be done with your hands."  
  
Julia nodded dumbly, and rubbed the crescent moon mark in the centre of her forehead. It twinkled mischievously. Eventually she shrugged and sighed. "I guess I'll have to pretend it's a scar, like Harry's."  
  
"You wouldn't actually _say_ that would you?!" Luna asked incredulously. "Having that mark is an honour of part of the Lunarian's treaty! And-"  
  
"But yesterday I didn't have it, DID I?"  
  
"The- oh. I see."  
  
"It's just a mark anyway, and I was practicing the transfiguration techniques with my hands anyway. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's pretty cool actually." Julia walked out of the bathroom, followed by a shocked Luna and they made their way out of the painting.  
  
"Shall I practice my magic then?... sheesh, this reminds of some kind of computer game."  
  
"It's not. Remember that. You could get hurt." Luna replied, shrinking again to cat form and jumping to Julia's shoulders, who rolled her eyes and continued walking to the great hall.  
  
After 15 minutes, they made it and she opened the doors to see the entire school having their breakfast. As she walked past in her creased skirt and shirt from the night before, the student body craned their necks to see the tall girl walking to the teachers' table and talk a few words with the headmaster. They finished their small conversation and she headed down the tables to the Gryffindors to sit near the infamous trio of the present Hogwarts generation. Whispers generated round the hall and Julia calmly ate her breakfast after greeting Hermione, Ron and Harry.  
  
However soon the murmurs turned to general chatter as the owls swooped down to drop off the mail. Between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Julia, they remained silent until Julia broke it. "I'm going to be in your year Hermione. Isn't that cool?"  
  
"What? How come? I thought you were coming to visit!" Hermione replied aghast.  
  
"Fine. I know when I'm not wanted." Ron and Harry snorted in held in laughter over their pumpkin juice.  
  
"No no! I just thought you wanted to see Dumbledore that's all."  
  
"That _was_ our plan, until Luna decided to change her mind and she wanted to stay. OH," Julia blushed. "She's the one with the long black hair in the weird hairstyle and dress sense." Suddenly Julia held in her breathe as her cat clawed her arms in her lap. "Ow...I take it back!"  
  
"What's your cat called?" Harry asked.  
  
"Uh, um, she's called Luna as well because my friend has a huge ego." Again Julia held in her breathe. "Ow..." Hermione narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Especially at the cat who peered over the table edge. Ron looked over to his friend and nudged Hermione. He gave her a disapproved look and her frowned face relaxed to a smile.  
  
"So! Are you starting straight away?"  
  
Julia beamed. "I think so, but I don't have any supplies."  
  
"I'm sure the school can lend you some, but you'll have to get yourself a wand." Harry replied, "We could go to Diagon Alley next time we get to go out to Hogsmeade and-"  
  
"Oh I don't need one." Julia replied cheerfully, taking a bite out of her piece of toast. Before they could question her further, Professor McGonagall approached from behind them and handed some timetables to Hermione who dealt them out.  
  
"Please make sure you make it on time to all of your lessons, your O.W.L.S. are this year and we don't need any-more- mischief."  
  
"We will!" the three chorused and finally the professor handed Julia a timetable.  
  
"Since you have already been introduced to these three, I would advise to ask for help from Granger." Professor McGonagall said, casting an uneasy look to Luna's direction. "Supplies can be lent to you in lessons. Extra tutoring will be at 7o' clock each evening with Professor Dumbledore in his office." She nodded curtly and left.  
  
"Do you know which house you're in?" Hermione asked. Julia shook her head and showed Hermione her timetable.  
  
"That's weird. You're all mixed up, sometimes you're with us, then with Ravenclaw Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Hey! You'll be with the sixth years for Transfiguration!"  
  
"What?" Ron said, coughing on his baked beans. "Gimme that!" Harry peered over his shoulder and yes, she was with the sixth year Gryffindors. The three stared at Julia suspiciously.  
  
"Wh-What? Is that a crime?"  
  
"You're in our year, and a new student. How can you be ahead?" Ron asked.  
  
Julia glowered at him. "Are you saying that I'm crap?"  
  
"N-NO!" Ron replied having stuck his foot in his mouth again.  
  
"Good." She snatched her timetable back and looked down it. Upon seeing students leaving the hall she said, "Well I'd better go since I have a lesson now with the Slytherins." Promptly she turned and walked away but Ron shouted,  
  
"Good luck!"  
  
"There's no such thing!" she shouted back, having learnt that the hard way during her entire childhood. Once she got to the bottom of the changing staircases, she muttered her thoughts. "Right, so it's Charms first. Um, hm. Which- way???"  
  
"Lost mudblood?" sneered a voice behind her. Whirling around she saw Malfoy and his bodyguards. Completely ignoring him, but placing her hands into a position such that it resembled the screen of a TV, she mocked a voiceover voice.  
  
"And here comes the bad smelling boy and his bruised bodyguards! Dressed as though he has no idea what the meaning of 'style' is, he *sigh* tries to make a condescending face but fails miserably-"  
  
"Watch it you-"  
  
"As well as having no sense of style, he can't make a good comeback for the life of him so give it up foooor...Flattenhim Boy! (also rhymes with platinum which so matches his hair, don't'cha think?)"  
  
"Listen here mudblood-"  
  
"What?" Julia hissed. "I can't hear you!"  
  
"Mudblood!"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"OI!"  
  
"I'm sorry say that again?"  
  
"MUDBLOOD SHUT UP!"  
  
"Mr Malfoy!" snapped Professor Sprout from behind him. "10 points from Slytherin for such horrible behaviour to a new student! Go and show Holdsworth to her class and be quick about it, you don't want more taken away do you?"  
  
Just as the Professor moved away, Malfoy rounded on Julia who gave a sweet and innocent look. "What did I do?" Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. "Want another rematch? I'm sorry but didn't you hear the Professor, you just lost 10 points, you need some more practice at controlling your temper. _Please_ show me the way to Charms." She fluttered her eyelashes for the desired effect.  
  
"THAT'S IT!" Malfoy shouted and while rolling up his sleeves, he struck a punch but his fist was caught in a stranger's hand.  
  
"Luna..." Julia whispered.  
  
"Need another person to fight me?" Malfoy sneered. Julia straightened up to tower over him and said,  
  
"Actually I don't. I just need to get to my lesson on time. As do you."  
  
"We'll continue this later." Malfoy said, and upon cricking his head, he headed forward completely ignoring the two girls who decided to follow.  
  
"You mustn't fight so much Julia." Luna whispered.  
  
"It's not me! He always starts it!"  
  
"But you provoke him!"  
  
Julia glowered and refused to answer as they entered the classroom, Luna in cat form.  
  
~~~  
  
Charms was...interesting. Julia managed to master the bubble charm in the lesson as others were struggling. She has managed to hide her insignia thus far, but soon the truth will come out. It has to, after her first try of magic in the classroom, she didn't control it and sent the room into disorder due to the deafening sounds of her massive exploding bubbles. Plus since she isn't using a wand, the students will get suspicious.  
  
And then there's that night in the woods, I could've sworn a youma was prowling them. A stray maybe. I wonder to whom it belonged to. Hope it doesn't come out of the forest. That would be disastrous and I'd have to call the Senshi. I wonder how Usagi is doing...  
  
~~~  
  
The castle shook. Everyone inside jerked awake. A deafening and horrible roar shook the castle to its foundations and people screamed. Julia and Luna gasped in their bed, and rushed out of their room to look outside. Some kind of monster, was thrashing with the Whomping Willow, and winning. It was taller than the tree and seemed to be shaped slightly humanoid, but it's skin was clear and watery, sending rainbows in all sorts of directions from the moonlight. It jumped up and formed into a ball of strange clear liquid, and the centre became brighter and brighter.  
  
"What is that?" Julia whispered, completely terrified by the sight.  
  
"A youma." The girl rounded on her small now humanoid friend. "Must be a stray. I thought I sensed something that night."  
  
"You told me you didn't!"  
  
"Well I did!" Luna snapped. "I'm going to have to call my friends from Japan. They're the only ones who can defeat these enemies." Luna lifted her crescent moon necklace and lifted it up so that it caught the moonlight.  
  
"But I thought you didn't want to see them."  
  
"I didn't, not so soon."  
  
"Then don't. We'll find a way." Julia replied, determination written across her face. "Together we can defeat it."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Impedimenta!" The glass shattered and Julia jumped onto the side.  
  
"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?!" Luna shrieked, trying to pull her down, but she wasn't strong enough, she hadn't developed her human muscles. The height must've been at least 50 metres, and before Luna could try to stop her, Julia dived off.  
  
"You idiot!" Luna shouted out the window.  
  
"Liquiforum terrae!" Julia shouted and although the speed worried her and her crescent moon mark glowed, feet first she plunged into the soil like jumping into water. The youma turned it's attention on her as she jumped out of the soil with a "Finite Incantatem." The youma shrieked at her and with such speed it immersed Julia inside its body next to some kind of crystal.  
  
"JULIA!" came Luna's muffled cry. "Hey! Leave her alone!" Before she knew it, the small woman found that students from Hufflepuff were trying to peer out the window to see what was going on. "Get away from here!" she growled loudly. "Get to the dungeons, they're the safest!"  
  
"We're prefects! We'll stay!" said Ernie Macmillan proudly.  
  
"NO." she sternly said. "You'll only get hurt." As the rest of the students started to move away, the prefects stayed behind. "This is OUT of your league, leave before I force you." They moved to the window and peered out to see the ball of water spinning faster around a darker blob inside it. "What do I have to say for you to get OUT of here!" Her moon insignia glowed and a tight explosion circled around her. Her hair billowed from left to right, circling her body and yellow dress. She thrust her arms out sending out a pulse of magical energy and they were forced backwards a little before disappearing. "They'll be safer down there." She whispered before darting down the stairs and bursting through the great wooden doors.  
  
"Matte youma!" she shouted. It did not respond, and only spun faster. Teachers began to file out of the castle, Dumbledore in the lead, wand raised. "DD-sensei I don't want you here! You know the consequences!"  
  
But they didn't hear her, and kept coming. "Grr, this is MY fight for once. I finally get the chance and they try and help!" She raised her finger to the moon and then fired energy blasts on a perimeter around the youma and herself. Little golden balls lay suspended a foot off the grass that sparked as a teacher tried to bypass the shield. 'Oh why can't people see what's best for them?!' she thought desperately as she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron at the edge of the shield. Hermione promptly stopped her friends from going any further upon seeing the golden balls of energy. "MATTE YOUMA!" she yelled now as it was slowly starting to evaporate from the heat energy generated by the movement.  
  
Luna frowned and raised her hands to the sky and gathered the moonlight energy, and upon thrusting her arms down, a highly charged sphere of energy hit the youma, but did not do anything. She tried again, and again and this was as far as she knew her best attack! Wait...  
  
"SOMEBODY LEND ME YOUR WAND!" But the bystanders were too scared. "NOW!" It was quiet, and suddenly the centre of the spherical ball of liquid burst into 5 bright lights. "PLEASE!" she screamed, every fibre of her being screaming out for aid.  
  
"Here!" came a voice, she turned and saw that it was Harry, who threw his wand point first through the barrier and burst through, caught by Luna's waiting hand.  
  
"Thanks Harry!" She spun the wand in her hand so that most of her energy was being fed into the receiving wand. She stopped and she panted for breathe. She hadn't realised how much her body needed energy to survive the thousands of years that she had been living. "Take -THIS! YA!" A huge barrel of energy and magic burst from the amplifier and scorched a trench in the soil as it hit the youma. Again the youma gave a mighty screech and when Luna stopped her barrage of energy, the _thing_ also ceased to move, and instead it suddenly convulsed. It bulged, it shook, it formed odd shapes and finally it concentrated itself into its centre, a girl. The girl seemed to suck it inside herself, and soon Luna saw why.  
  
The youma had bonded with her.  
  
"No..." she whispered and ran to Julia's limp form on the wet ground. Her ankles, her wrists were bound by watery bonds. "Oh..." Luna's shaking hands moved away Julia's hair and saw another bond, around her mind, around her forehead centred by a large clear blue glowing jewel. "No...baka...! Baka...baka... baka BAKA!" The vision of the moon burst into tears and punched at the ground. The shield broke down and the watchers swarmed around the two friends, Harry in the lead.  
  
"What happened?" he asked a little shakily. The girl who had grown on him looked fine, but it was the binds that worried him. They stood in silence and soon the glowing in the jewel stopped and Julia slowly awoke. 


End file.
